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GEOTHERMAL POWER PLANT
Late on Saturday, authorities ordered an emergency evacuation to be completed by Monday due to growing seismic activity and its impact on the large cracks already present in the town.
On Wednesday, a 51-year-old Icelandic workman who was repairing a crack in a residential garden disappeared when the ground suddenly gave way beneath him.
He fell more than 30m. The intensive search to find him was called off on Friday because the area was too dangerous.
Authorities accelerated the evacuation order overnight when seismic activity intensified.
“What matters is where the lava flows. It is now very important to monitor it,” IMO volcanologist Kristin Jonsdottir told RUV.
Officials are keeping a close eye on the area’s Svartsengi geothermal plant, which provides electricity and water to the 30,000 residents of the Reykjanes peninsula.
Workmen have been building a wall to protect the facility since November.
Until March 2021, the Reykjanes peninsula had not experienced an eruption for eight centuries.
Fresh eruptions occurred in August 2022, and July and December 2023, leading volcanologists to say it was probably the start of a new era of activity in the region.
Four days after the Dec 18 eruption, authorities said volcanic activity had stopped but they could not declare the eruption over because there was still a possibility of underground lava flow.
Iceland is home to 33 active volcano systems, the highest number in Europe.
Situated in the North Atlantic, it straddles the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a crack in the ocean floor separating the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates.
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